Ömnögovi (Өмнөговь)· Хонгорын элс

Khongoryn Els (the Singing Dunes)

Khongoryn Els is the largest dune field in Mongolia, a band of sand running along the back of the Sevrei and Zöölön ranges with crests that rise as much as 300 m above the plain. Its nickname comes from the low droning hum the sand makes as grains slide and rub against each other on a windy day. The contrast is what makes it: bare rock mountains to the south, a wall of sand in the middle, and on the north side a green ribbon of oasis where the Khongoryn Gol stream surfaces and nomad families graze camels. Climbing the high dune for sunset is the standard reason people come, and it is much harder work than it looks.

From Ulaanbaatar: 838 km
Drive time: 2 days from Ulaanbaatar by road; 4-6 hours from Dalanzadgad
Altitude: 1,336 m
Typical stay: 2 nights, which gives one full day for the climb plus camels without rushing
Best months: Jun–Sep

Jan: not a best month
Feb: not a best month
Mar: not a best month
Apr: not a best month
May: not a best month
Jun: a best month
Jul: a best month
Aug: a best month
Sep: a best month
Oct: not a best month
Nov: not a best month
Dec: not a best month

Photo: Felix Filnkoessl / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Highlights

Climbing Duut Mankhan, the high 'singing dune', for sunset over the whole ridge
The hum the dunes make in wind - the reason for the name
Riding a Bactrian camel along the foot of the dunes with a herder family
The Khongoryn Gol oasis strip on the north side, with poplars, reeds and grazing herds
Seruun Bulag spring, where water that sank under the dunes comes back to the surface
The colour shift on the sand from gold through silver to rose between midday and dusk
Sledding or boarding down the steep lee face
Nomad ger visits in the oasis belt, where camel herding is still the living

Season notes

June to September is the working season, with camps open and camels available. Spring brings serious sandstorms that can shut the site down for a day at a time. July and August are hot - climb early morning or after 17:00, not midday. September gives cooler climbing and softer light but nights get genuinely cold. Camps mostly close from October.

From Ulaanbaatar

Paved highway as far as Dalanzadgad, then about 200-230 km of desert track west via Bayandalai and Sevrei, some of it washboard gravel and some soft sand. There is a checkpoint on the approach. A 4WD or a Russian UAZ van is standard; ordinary cars do not do this section.

By air
Fly Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad (DLZ), then drive 4-6 hours west. There is no airstrip at the dunes.

Where to stay

Ger camps cluster 7-12 km east of the main dune access, along the Khongoryn Gol (Buren Camp, Camel Riding Camp and others mapped in OpenStreetMap)
Standard tourist ger camp: roughly USD 40-70 per person per night including three meals (2026)
En-suite or deluxe ger camp: roughly USD 80-150 per person per night including meals (2026)
Nomad family ger with a camel-herding household: roughly USD 20-40 per person per night including meals (2026)

Be aware

The climb is genuinely hard - steep, soft sand, two steps up for one back; unfit walkers should not attempt the summit

Sand gets into cameras, phones and bags; seal everything

Midday surface temperatures are punishing and there is zero shade on the dunes

Spring and early summer sandstorms can cancel a visit outright

Camel rides are short and tourist-run; the animals are working stock, not trained rides

Long, rough drive in from Dalanzadgad with no fuel between settlements

Nights are cold even after hot days; camps heat gers with a stove

Sand dunes of Khongoryn Els, Gobi Desert, Mongolia — Photo: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources (5)

Хонгорын элс - Mongolian Wikipedia — 180 km length, 965 km2 area, 27 km maximum width and 800 m minimum width, Sevrei and Bayandalai sums, the Khongoryn Gol and its springs
ホンゴル砂丘 - Japanese Wikipedia — Japanese name, about 100 km width, maximum relief about 300 m, largest dune field in Mongolia, the singing effect from grain friction, camel trekking and sunset viewing
Discover Mongolia - Gobi Desert — Dunes up to 300 m and roughly 100 km long; typical 5-8 day Gobi itineraries and flying into Dalanzadgad partway
OpenStreetMap - Khongoryn Els viewpoint, Duut Mankhan, Seruun Bulag and ger camps — Dune-climb starting point coordinates, the Duut Mankhan name, the spring, the checkpoint and the positions of the ger camps
Discover Mongolia - Tourist ger camps — 2026 nightly price bands for standard, en-suite and homestay accommodation

On the map

43.7960°N, 102.1812°E

Key facts

Length: About 180 km end to end following the Sevrei and Zöölön ranges (Mongolian Wikipedia); shorter figures of about 100 km are commonly quoted for the main tourist section
Area: 965 km2 in total
Width: 27 km at its widest in the north-west, narrowing to about 800 m in the centre
Max Height: Dunes rise up to about 300 m above the surrounding plain - the largest dune field in Mongolia
Water: The Khongoryn Gol runs about 10 km along the northern edge, fed by the Seruun Bulag and Arganga Bulag springs where flood water from the Zöölön range resurfaces
Sums: Sevrei and Bayandalai sums
Park: Inside Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park
Name Note: Japanese ホンゴル砂丘 is the form used by Japanese Wikipedia (the dune itself is tagged 唄う砂漠 in OpenStreetMap). The Korean 홍고린 엘스 is the common transliteration but was not confirmed against a Korean travel page.

Good for

photographers
families with older children
stargazing
camel riding
first-timers
anyone who wants one iconic desert image

routes

Often combined with

Yolyn Am Canyon, Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Mongolia

Yolyn Am (Vulture's Gorge, often 'Eagle Valley')

Ömnögovi · 624 km

Yolyn Am is a narrow gorge cut into the Zuun Saikhan range inside Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, and it is the one place in the South Gobi where the desert stops feeling like desert. The walls close to a few metres apart, a stream runs along the floor, and for much of the year a sheet of ice sits in the shaded narrows. It is named after the yol, the bearded vulture that nests on the cliffs above. Visitors park at the mouth, pass a small natural history museum, and walk or ride a horse a few kilometres up the valley to the ice.

Best months: May–Sep

Bayanzag (the Flaming Cliffs)

Ömnögovi · 667 km

Bayanzag is a line of orange sandstone cliffs and badlands on the edge of a saxaul woodland, and it is the single most important site in the history of dinosaur palaeontology in Asia. Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History named it the Flaming Cliffs in the 1920s for the colour the rock turns at sunset, and it was here that the first scientifically recognised dinosaur eggs were found. The rock belongs to the Djadochta Formation, which has also produced Velociraptor, Protoceratops, Oviraptor and some of the earliest known placental mammals. Visiting means walking the rim and the gullies below, which is a short and easy stop, and it is almost always timed for late afternoon.

Best months: May–Sep

Khermen Tsav

Ömnögovi · 1,029 km

Khermen Tsav is a deep red canyon system cut into the far western Gobi, a maze of eroded sandstone walls, towers and spurs that Russian-speaking visitors nicknamed the Mongolian sphinxes. It is one of the richest Late Cretaceous fossil localities anywhere, the reference area for the Hermiin Tsav beds of the Barun Goyot Formation, and the sandstone preserves an ancient landscape that was itself a dune field. Almost nobody gets here: it is hundreds of kilometres of desert track from the nearest paved road, with no settlement, no fuel and no mobile signal. That remoteness is exactly why serious photographers and expedition travellers make the effort.

Best months: May–Jun, Sep